This night’s theme was ‘MAYDAYS!’ in honour of Mental Health awareness month. We have shared some links at the bottom of this post of some charities and local drop ins where you can get support.
It was a lively evening, full of intriguing and magical performances (both literal and metaphorical!). A show of three parts, I found myself feeling a full range of emotions as we were delighted by the talents of poets, comedians, storytellers, and yes, a MixMatched first – an actual real life magician.
Emma performing her shortlisted flash-fiction piece called ‘Morgan La Fay’.
Kicking off the night was one of our hosts, Emma Robdale, who shared her own flash-fiction piece that was recently shortlisted for London Independent Story Prize. This was followed by Aaron, a MixMatched regular, who shared a poignant and bravely honest story about his own mental health journey, which left me feeling very moved and grateful for his vulnerable performance. Then no more than five minutes went by then when I found myself laughing out loud hysterically at the comedy stylings of Gabby Rolls, and Jaq’s witty, relatable poetry about dealing with being put on hold when trying to get through to the NHS mental health team.
Part two of the evening I felt the excitement of a child as I tried to work out how Michael the magician, was reading several members’ of the audience’s mind – I’m still trying to figure it out now! His tricks and flare captivated our attention and left audience members feeling speechless. Not for too long, however, because then we were making suggestions of celebrities for the improv comedians of Autistics Assemble to imitate and laughing at the consequences!
Finally, we had two wonderful comedians testing out some of their latest material. Paggy, who had a recent comedy show at the Brighton Fringe, and Adam, a MixMatched original who has been touring the local comedy circuit, both delighted and tickled us greatly with their comedy based on their own real-life experiences. A great way to end, the audience left in high spirits, and I was
ready for a lie down!
Thank you to all our wonderful performers, to Simon Kempthorne for taking photos, and the Mooring Café for hosting us. And thank you to everyone who attended – it was a very memorable evening!
Our Set List…
First Set:
Emma Robdale – (MixMatched host) poetry
Aaron Kay – storytelling around tonight’s theme
Gabby Rolls – comedy
Jaq Wanstall – poetry
Second Set:
Michael McIntyre – the magician, not the comedian(!)
Autistics Assemble – Emma, Simon and Adam (plus Gabby and Paggy!) doing Improv comedy
Third Set:
Paggy – comedy
Adam Dorr – comedy
Local mental health charities with drop ins / support groups
Mental Health Matters
Phone: 07876 476703 or 07483 163953
Opening hours: 6pm-11pm every day (including weekends and bank holidays)
Address: 22-23 North Lane, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7EE
Website: Canterbury Safe Haven | Mental Health Matters (mhm.org.uk)
Canterbury Umbrella Centre
Phone: 01227 767660
Opening hours: Mon – Fri, 8am-4pm
Address: Canterbury Umbrella Cantre, St Peter’s Place, Canterbury, CT12DB
Website: Canterbury Umbrella – Providing Social Mental Health Support
Take Off
Phone: 01227 788211
Opening Hours: n/a (they run specific groups at different times)
Address: 34 Military Road, Canterbury, CT1 1LT